Islamabad, May 30 (Xinhua) Pakistan directed the capital district administration to increase security for foreign diplomats in the aftermath of escalating riots in Kabul, following reports of a US army truck ramming into parked vehicles.
The interior ministry issued the directive and stressed on the security of those from Afghanistan as well as UN officials, the Daily Times reported Tuesday.
Concerned over a possible backlash from the riots as well as from a recent US bombing of Al Qaida hideouts in Kandahar, Afghanistan, that has so far left 50 dead, the directive aims at ensuring adequate security to diplomats and other foreign dignitaries residing in the federal capital.
Sources said that an emergency meeting of the relevant authorities had been convened at the interior ministry building to discuss security arrangements against the backdrop of violence in Afghanistan.
The district administration was asked to stay alert and keep an eye on miscreants, who could take refuge in the Afghan slums present in both Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Officials are also to visit seminaries, particularly those in rural areas, to check whether anyone other than registered students were hiding there.
The ministry also directed the district administration to contact foreign diplomats and provide them with foolproof security if and when they wished to move in or outside the city, sources said.
© 2006 Xinhua |